14
dollars; but it will be desirable for the whole
for new entrants
question of salaries, to be examined generally as soon
as possible in the light of the exhaustive review
with special reference
which has recently taken place in regard to East and
West Africa, of the kind of scales which it is
Africa,
necessary to offer in order to recruit satisfactory
personnel in this country for the unified branches
of the Colonial Service and for other posts of
similar status. With the East and West African rates
as a guide it should not be very difficult for the
Hong Kong Government to suggest adaptations of those
rates which would fit in with special local conditions,
and, having regard to the fact that, as compared with
The bid is different tropical Africa, the senior officers in Hong Kong are
is much len marka
at the bottom of the
xale
tic. minicar in that
the local currency was subject to vident fluchration due to
Chaser cutside
control.
m
at present remunerated on distinctly generous lines,
it is not inconceivable that such a review would
result in an appreciable economy without loss of efficiency.
It
A further question is whether it would not
be desirable to take steps to transfer the existing
sterling-paid officers to a dollar basis. It may be
argued that such a step would be a violation of the
terms upon which these officers were appointed.
must, however, be recalled that when a somewhat
similar situation arose in East Africa shortly after
the War, it was not thought improper to pass an
Order-in-Council the effect of which, inter alia, was
that officers on sterling salaries who had previously
drawn those salaries locally at the rate of fifteen
rupees to the pound were deemed thereafter to be
Local
remunerated in
nflorins at ten to the pound;
the
florin, for local currency purposes, taking the
place of the old rupee. I do not know much about
the past history of the Hong Kong dollar, and
I suppose no one knows much about its future, but
presumably